Mohammedanism
Old term used by Western researchers and writers for Islam, now largely discarded.The term was used often derogatory, promoting the view that Islam was no more than the personal creation of Muhammad. Muslims in general has rejected and objected to the term, stating that Islam is correctly named nothing but Islam. More recent Western scholars have accepted this, much from statements from Muslim scholars that Muhammad was no more than an ordinary man chosen to promote the message from God.However, recent years have shown that the discarded term is not entirely wrong. The rage across the Muslim world against the Danish Muhammad cartoons has shown that Muslims have developed a view on Muhammad as infallible and perfect, so that any criticism and insult on Muhammad would be a criticism and insult on Islam. By this, the term no longer appears wrong: If criticism of Muhammad is criticism of Islam, then using "Mohammedanism" in place of "Islam" could not be considered degrading.